WATER chiefs last night vowed to safeguard supplies in Wales in the face of plans to build a "national grid" of canals and reservoirs.

The government asked the Environment Agency to look at the feasibility of a 33-year-old scheme for a national water grid to avoid droughts in the south east of England.

The scheme, which examines the possibility of enlarging reservoirs at Llyn Efyrnwy and Craig Goch, was first recommended by the Water Resources Board in 1973.

It would enable "large-scale transfers of water from the wetter, low demand areas of the north and west to the dry south and midlands".

The plans also suggested a feasibility study into an "estuary storage" reservoir at the Dee Estuary which would fill with fresh river water that would otherwise flow into the sea.

But Environment Agency bosses in Wales said there were no plans for a new reservoir or to increase dam sizes at existing ones.

An Environment Agency for Wales spokesman said: "Our current policy emphasis is on water conservation.

"The agency is working very closely with central government to look at the position in terms of long-term plans

for water resources and water availability.

"However at this point in time the agency in Wales has no plans to support the development of any new reservoirs or any changes such as increasing the size of the dam at Craig Goch. That is not agency policy.

"Our emphasis at the moment is on conserving water and on educating the general public in being more aware of water use and of thinking of more ways they themselves can conserve water."

The spokesman said the Environment Agency was working closely with Wales' two water companies D?r Cymru/ Welsh Water and Dee Valley Water on rectifying leaks in

distribution pipes as a further means of conserving water. He said there was a "considerable investment programme" centred on replacing leaking pipes.

D?r Cymru/Welsh Water said it would fight to ensure customers in Wales didn't lose out on water.

Eugene Baston, of the British Waterways Board, said: "We would be more than happy to work with the Environment Agency to realise the potential the canal network has.

He added: "The idea of using the canals as central to a grid to transport water to areas of drought has been discussed for many years."